<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Stand Beside Me by WannaBeBold</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24481972">Stand Beside Me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WannaBeBold/pseuds/WannaBeBold'>WannaBeBold</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ellick Playlist [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCIS</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Reflection, jerk Jake</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:29:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,652</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24481972</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WannaBeBold/pseuds/WannaBeBold</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Just like Jake, they met at work but that’s where the similarities started and ended.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ellie Bishop/Jake Malloy (past), Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ellick Playlist [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1761892</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>80</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Stand Beside Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>She loved to tell the story of how they met. Her mom and friends thought it was adorable and it always caused “awws” to come from strangers that would ask. Like many couples, they met at work - they both reached for the same file when their hands touched. There was no spark like all the movies said there would be but she still felt something between them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jake had been her first real relationship - being called “Scarecrow” in school didn’t exactly make you guys first pick and she was too focused on her school work in college to pay attention to any guys that asked her out - and looking back now she knows she should’ve seen the signs it wouldn’t last. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unlike her, Jake had been from a wealthy family. While she grew up wearing patched overalls and still drove her dad’s 1980’s model truck, he grew up with a nanny and drove a brand new loaded Mercedes. Although she always wanted to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with her parents and brothers back in Oklahoma, he somehow convinced her to meet his family on islands or ski resorts for the holidays instead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before they got married, they had several discussions about having children, both deciding to wait a few years before trying. As soon as she left the NSA however, he started questioning when they were going to have kids, saying sooner was better than later. The more she told him she wanted to wait until she had been at NCIS for at least a year to start trying, the more persistent he became. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was after she joined NCIS that the problems in their marriage started to shine. No longer able to share information about their jobs with each other, she realized how much they relied on the NSA for their relationship and found that they really had nothing else in common. The less they actually talked the more Jake brought up the changes in her since joining NCIS and constantly blamed her for the problems they were having.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was then she realized he had always blamed her for things that weren’t her fault. Like when he took her to meet his parents for the first time and he blamed her for being late even though he didn’t pick her up on time and then gave her the silent treatment after she “ruined” his mother’s tablecloth when she accidentally spilled her red wine. Then there was the time they went on vacation for their anniversary and blamed her for not having a hotel room when the hotel had overbooked. They ended up in a nice beach house courtesy of the hotel company but that didn’t stop Jake from complaining to her the entire time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He also spent a lot of time making her feel guilty, especially when she would want to spend time with her family. Their first Christmas together, she had already booked her plane ticket to Oklahoma when he insisted they spend the holiday together at his place. They had only been dating five months at the time and she didn’t want to stop the tradition of spending the holidays with her family but he said he wanted to spend the holiday with her and eventually talked her into cancelling her flight. Instead of having the usual “Hallmark Christmas” at home, they spent their first Christmas together having Chinese in front of a fireplace that was playing on TV, no Christmas décor in sight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took him until after their engagement to even meet her family and that was only when they came to visit her in DC. It was two years into their marriage when she realized that Jake found every excuse not to travel with her to visit her family. He always came up with some excuse that he had to stay home instead of going to Oklahoma so, after three holidays apart, she gave up asking and just went with him to visit his family. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It happened the entire time they were together, but she never realized it until they were on the brink of divorce - he always had something negative to say about her appetite. It was a well known fact for anyone that knew Eleanor Bishop knew she liked to eat and eat strange foods. When she had first met Jake, she tried to hide that side of herself, afraid he wouldn’t like her because of it. She finally realized she was being ridiculous and started eating things she normally would. At first he didn’t pay much attention to it but after they were married he would make offhanded comments about how she couldn’t stay that skinny if she kept up her appetite. After that she became self-conscious, spent more time at the gym, and started eating less again. It wasn’t until her mom said something during a birthday visit that Ellie began to see just how much she was changing about herself because of Jake that she started to take her life back. </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Coming back to the present, Ellie looked over at the man across from her. As crazy as they drove each other, they loved each other just as much. He may not have been her first relationship and she wasn’t his but they both knew they would be each other’s last. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just like Jake, they met at work but that’s where the similarities started and ended. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time the first meeting involved her pointing a gun at him in an alleyway - not exactly the best dinner conversation - so they just said they met at work.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unlike Jake, Nick didn’t have the best upbringing. He had told her about his dad leaving when he was five, making his mom a single parent who worked so much she barely had time for him and Lucia struggling to step up to care for him while also maintaining her life. Despite his rough childhood, he somehow turned out to be the wonderful man she knew today.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had already met her brothers when they visited her a few years ago, but a month after they started dating he asked her when he got to meet her parents. Once she got over the initial shock that he actually wanted to meet the rest of her family, she offered to ask them to come to DC and he surprised her even more by insisting he wanted to go to Oklahoma. If possible, she fell more in love with him then. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their first Christmas together, Nick didn’t even bother asking Ellie where she wanted to spend the holiday and instead got them plane tickets to Oklahoma as a part of her Christmas present. Overwhelmed with emotion, she kissed him passionately in gratitude. They barely made it to the bedroom after that but neither had any complaints. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> Although she was hesitant about her daughter dating another coworker, Barbara instantly got along with Nick. Ellie couldn't help but think that her mom never got along that well with Jake. Her dad shocked them all when he pulled Nick in for a hug, immediately welcoming him into the family. During the week they spent in Oklahoma, Ellie saw a whole new family side to Nick and was suddenly imagining them sitting by the tree in her parents house with a little boy or girl that was the perfect mix of them, watching on as their child opened their Christmas presents.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once they were back in DC, Ellie hesitantly brought up the subject of kids, remembering that he had once said he didn’t want them. Nick surprised her though when he said taking care of baby Cody with her had changed his mind and he wanted a family now that included kids, but only if he could have them with her and only when she was ready. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She already knew she was in love with Nick, but it sealed the deal for her when he had ketchup and prawn chips shipped to her from England on Reeves birthday. He may have always picked on her for her weird food choices, but in the end he supported her odd eating habits and even encouraged them. Although he invited her to run with him, it was because he wanted to spend more time with her, not as a reason to get her to work out. For once in her life she actually enjoyed exercise, she was no longer doing it to lose weight, she was doing it for fun and because it was something Nick liked to do with her. </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Ellie was broken out of her thoughts by Nick’s hand sliding a plate in front of her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So El, what’s the plans for today?” Ellie smiled as she saw that Nick had slid over his side of maple pecan pancakes, the syrup to pancake ratio just how she liked it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I figured we could walk around some, take in the Fall leaves, maybe do some shopping later…” She trailed off, biting into the sweet goodness. “What?” Looking up from her food, she caught him staring at her, head tilted to the side and a grin crossing his features. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing. I just love watching you in your happy zone.” As usual when he said something like that she blushed, looking down. Nick knew how much she liked her food, especially the weird snacks, and was always bringing her her favorite weird snacks even before they were dating. Now, he was constantly sharing his food with her, even ordering things he knew she liked just so he could see her happy when she picked from his plate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Walking down the street, Nick reached over and grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss. Ellie felt giddy at the feeling and leaned into him, letting out a happy giggle. They were talking about their upcoming trip when a voice from the past stopped her in her tracks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi Ellie.” Turning to face the direction the voice came from, she saw her ex-husband standing there. Nick gripped her hand tighter for support, hers or his she wasn’t sure, and waited for her lead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, h-hi Jake.” Ellie unconsciously moved in closer to Nick for comfort, his arm instinctively going around her waist. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jake watched the couples movements and clenched his jaw. Ellie was never that public with displays of affection when she was with him, what made this guy so special?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ellie noticed Jake glancing at Nick and decided she may as well make introductions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jake, this is Nick, my fiance. Nick, my ex-husband.” Nick’s eyes filled with rage as he stared down Jake, trying to make the man squirm. She had to give it to her ex, he wasn’t as shakable as he used to be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jake was staring at her midsection before looking Nick over. It was obvious the man with his ex-wife spent time at the gym and he was surprised the guy would even pay attention to Ellie, let alone ask her to marry him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You look good El. Looks like you still love those snacks though. I’m surprised Mr. Muscle boy over there hasn’t dragged you to the gym with him yet.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She could feel the anger radiating off of Nick and gripped his arm, keeping him grounded. As much as Nick knew she wanted to fight her own battle, he really wanted a piece of this guy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, for your information Jake, I spend plenty of time working out with Nick, and not </span>
  <em>
    <span>just</span>
  </em>
  <span> in the gym.” Jake looked taken aback by Ellie’s brashness while Nick had to hold in a laugh. “And unlike </span>
  <em>
    <span>someone </span>
  </em>
  <span>Nick actually loves my weird taste in food. He even encourages it!” Ellie was pretty much yelling at him at this point, gathering attention from on-lookers but she could care less, she was on a roll now. “Oh and another thing. This..” She pulled her jacket back, showing off the slight roundness of her stomach. “Isn’t from food. It’s my baby, </span>
  <em>
    <span>OUR</span>
  </em>
  <span> baby.” She looked at Nick one last time before continuing. “And let me tell you Jake, Nick will be the best damn husband and father I could’ve ever asked for! Much better than you ever were to me! I am damn lucky to have him because he is everything you never were and for that, I am extremely grateful.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jake stared at her wide eyed, wondering where the hell this Ellie came from. Next to her, Nick was looking down at her in awe. He knew she had it in her but didn’t expect her to go off on Jake like this. Ellie took a deep breath, glad to finally get out things she had wanted to tell Jake since their divorce six years ago. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to spend the rest of our day off relaxing together and shopping for cribs.” Slipping out of Nick’s embrace, Ellie started walking away, leaving the two men staring at each other. Being bold, Jake broke the silence first. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, fiance huh? She wouldn’t even sleep with me until we were married. Looks like she’s uh, loosened up si-” Jake was cut off by Nick’s fist colliding solidly with his nose. He crumpled to the ground as Nick leered at him. If looks could kill, Jake would be dead on the pavement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me make this completely clear. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever</span>
  </em>
  <span> talk about Eleanor Bishop that way again, no matter where you are, no matter what you’re doing, I will find you and I will destroy you. Got it.” Trying and failing to fix his glasses, Jake just nodded, too afraid to say anything else. Nick started walking away before turning back to get one more word in. “And I think I speak for Ellie when I say we never want to see you again.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Giving Jake one last look, Nick walked away to where he knew Ellie would be waiting. Seeing him rounding the corner, she ran up to him and he wrapped her in his arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry Nick, I just, I saw him and he made that comment and I just, I couldn’t hold it in any longer.” She started crying again, cursing the hormones that made her tear up at everything lately. Pulling back slightly, Nick brought his hand up to her cheek, brushing the tears away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Babe, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m just glad you got to get it out. Besides, I think he deserved everything he got.” Giving him a curious look, he actually looked guilty and a glance down at his hand confirmed her suspicions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nick… did you punch him?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um. Maybe?” The look she was giving him was the same one he had seen her use in interrogation before and he now knew why people talked after seeing it. “Okay, yes I punched him. But you didn’t hear what he said about you after you left and-” He was cut off by her lips on his, hands tangling in his hair as his went to her hips, pulling her closer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I really wish I could’ve seen that. It would’ve been really hot.” Nick gaped at her, a laugh bubbling up at her comment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well Babe, I think they have security cameras, I’m sure you could look into them…” Ellie laughed at his suggestion before sobering up as his eyes went dark. “You know, seeing you go off on him was pretty hot for me.” He moved his hands up her sides, grazing her bump and the side of her breasts before coming to cup her face and leaning in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nick?” His humm against her lips made her toes curl. “Take me home.” She leaned in the rest of the way then, kissing him gently before grabbing his hand. Reluctantly he pulled away, leading her to their car. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Babe, your wish is my command.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All thoughts of Jake vanished from their minds as they spent the evening wrapped up in each other. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to HelloKaelyn for brainstorming ideas with me and Tiffanytheweirdo for reading it over for me! Y'all are the best!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>